The planning processes for structural assembly is a critical period during fabrication since it has a permanent effect over the cost and quality of the finished product. In this regard, while automobiles and ships use different types of welding for structural fabrication, aeronautical structures require fabrication using rivets and bolts due to the high stresses and strains to which they are subjected during use. In order to maintain the structural integrity of segments that constitute the airframe of an aircraft, substantial attention must be given to the drilling process and insertion of rivets for joining various component parts.
The current practice for assembling aircraft structural components is to employ a number of steps which in turn increase the time needed to achieve full assembly. Moreover, the current practice of assembling aircraft structural components requires a large number of manual activities which in turn increases time, manufacturing cycle and the number of non-conforming assemblies during the process. For example, current aircraft assembly processes typically involve a pre-assembly of the components to allow for drilling, following which the components are disassembled, deburred, cleaned and then re-assembled with final fasteners (e.g., rivets and/or bolts).
An assembly process whereby the various component parts could be pre-aligned for automated drilling and final assembly without intermediate disassembly would thereby reduce the number of manual activities and cycle time, thereby increasing product quality and hence reduce overall production costs. In order to accomplish this type of a more efficient assembly process requires that the drilling of the component parts be accomplished reliably without creating swarf between the parts to be joined together. In such a manner, therefore, the swarf-free drilling of components could promote the direct joining of the components by rivets and/or bolts thereby avoiding the conventional process of disassembly and cleaning of the components.
In order to achieve the more efficient process as described above, however, it is necessary that the component parts be stabilized to prevent deflection due to drilling forces which could otherwise result in swarth being trapped between components to be joined. What has been needed in this art, therefore, are stabilization devices and methods whereby component parts may be reliably handled by robotics to allow for the automated drilling and final assembly of parts without necessarily disassembling the parts for cleaning and/or deburring. It is towards fulfilling such needs that the presently claimed invention is directed.